The birthday surprise
by Charlotte1
Summary: Anakin's powerful infant daughter reveals just how powerful she is on the eve of her first birthday


Title: The birthday surprise  
  
Author: Charlotte Rating: Some violence and death Disclaimer: All the characters except for Mayco and Charelle (and all the other nursery workers) belong to George Lucas. I am making no money out of this  
  
I know there's only going to be like two years between Episode II and Episode III, so there really isn't time for any of my stories to happen, but I've been bored, so I created this character Mayco. This short story is about Mayco's first birthday. It's a bit soppy at the beginning, but as the day carries on Mayco surprises everyone when danger threatens all the infants at the temple.  
  
The birthday surprise  
  
Anakin looked nervously from one stuffed animal to the next, they all looked the same, how was he supposed to tell which one would be the ideal gift for his daughter's first birthday? His main gift was a beautiful wristband, which was made out of solid silver, but he felt she'd much rather appreciate a child's toy. So he'd gone on a quest to find her something cuddly. Over the last six months he'd really got to know the child and he knew that she liked the colour blue and was a very affectionate cuddly infant. So his first choice of gift would be something blue and cuddly. The moment he entered the toyshop in a large shopping complex near the Temple he realised his error; he was sure there were more cuddly blue toys in that shop than there were stars in the sky. He was just about to make a choice between a blue Wookiee and a blue spherical smiling character from a children's programme when the sales assistant approached him.  
  
" Need any help sir?" she asked kindly. Anakin turned on her quickly looking relieved to get some help.  
  
" Uh yeah," he said. " I need to find a present for my daughter, it's her first birthday and I wanted to get her a blue cuddly toy.I hadn't realised there would be quite so many!" The sales assistant smiled warmly.  
  
" Well there's always Kito," she said indicating a large brightly decorated shelf full of dolls of the same character.it was some sort of fantastical animal which had a very broad smile and bright green eyes. " He's a favourite with all kids at the moment," she explained. Anakin picked one of them up awkwardly and stared at it dubiously. Five minutes later though he was leaving the shop with the cuddly toy safely wrapped up and in a carrier bag. Within moments he was back at the temple. Obi-Wan met up with him in the speeder hanger.  
  
" Bit late aren't you?" he asked kindly. " Don't want to miss the party after all do you?" Anakin sighed and climbed out of the speeder.  
  
" You would not believe how difficult it is to buy a simple present these days," he countered and they made their way to the nursery quickly. When they got there they entered the main room and found it full of carers and infants, dressed in party hats. Anakin scanned the room until he saw Mayco, who was reaching out her arms to him. He smiled and quickly crossed the room to pick her up.  
  
" Happy birthday kid," he said cheerfully kissing her cheek.  
  
" She's been waiting for you, I haven't seen her this restless in a long time," Charelle told Anakin as she walked over to greet him.  
  
" I got caught up in town trying to find her a present," he explained solemnly. " Which reminds me." He quickly put Mayco down on her feet and then sat down at her side, pulling the present out of the bag as he went. This he handed to Mayco who giggled manically, not quite understanding the concept of presents, but knowing they were nice to receive. Charelle helped her open it and when Mayco saw the cuddly toy she giggled even more manically and hugged the animal. Then she toddled over to Anakin and crawled in his lap, ready for a cuddle herself.  
  
" Wait there's more," he said and out of the depths of his cloak he pulled out the case with the wristband in it. This he opened and he showed it to Mayco. She didn't understand this one at all and just stared at it sucking on one of her fingers gormlessly, but Charelle marvelled at it.  
  
" Oh it's beautiful Ani," she said kindly. " Why don't you put it on her?" Anakin nodded and slipped the wristband over Mayco's tiny wrist, before tightening it to the right setting. Mayco stared at it and fingered it with her other hand, but then her attention was drawn back to the Kito doll. Anakin felt a warm glow deep inside him; he had made her this happy and she knew it.it was such a good feeling.  
  
" The toy's a success then?" Obi-Wan asked walking over to the small group. Anakin nodded proudly to his master.  
  
" I should thank that sales assistant, she really saved my neck on this. If it had been down to me, then I would probably have bought her something that would scare her or something," Anakin said contemplating sending her some flowers or something, but his thoughts were interrupted by Mayco tugging on his shirt demanding his attention, so she could show him some of her other presents and so the afternoon continued. Some distinguished Jedi Masters made an appearance to wish the young child a happy birthday. One of these was Mace Windu, who after spending five minutes with the child took Obi-Wan to one side.  
  
" I hadn't realised she was growing so strong in the Force," he said sounding shocked. Obi-Wan nodded soberly.  
  
" She grows more powerful every day," he agreed. " When she is ready to start training I feel she'll develop extremely quickly."  
  
" Which all things considered can only be a good thing, I must inform Yoda of her strength, he'll be most interested," Mace said.  
  
" As is Chancellor Palpatine," Obi-Wan said gravely. " His interest in Mayco has increases greatly these last few months."  
  
" You do not trust him?" Mace interrupted, sensing Obi-Wan's feelings. Obi- Wan sighed and shook his head.  
  
" I'm afraid I don't." It was true that Palpatine had shown an uncanny interest in this baby, just like he'd taken an interest in her father. Obi- Wan was afraid that if what Dooku had said about a Sith being in control of the senate was true, then he would have complete control over two very powerful Jedi. These unhappy thoughts were interrupted by all the carers bursting into a birthday song for young Mayco and Obi-Wan couldn't help but join in, abandoning his train of thought. The song marked the end of the celebrations, all the children were growing restless and in need of naps, so the carers went about bringing them all to bed. Anakin and Obi-Wan were entrusted with putting Mayco to bed, so the two of them carried her to her room and placed her in her cot, still clutching the Kito toy.  
  
" Sweet dreams little one," Anakin said softly kissing her head. She was already asleep, so they crept out of the room silently and left the nursery with happy memories of the afternoon to occupy their minds.  
  
Meanwhile across the temple, in one of the laundry shafts two men also crept silently, but their minds were occupied only with the mission they'd been set - to eliminate the child of Senator Amidala.  
  
" So Zek, tell me again, how do we know we won't burst in on a room full of Jedi?" one of them asked. Ramer was the less intelligent of the two, and had been employed mainly for his brute strength. His partner Zek was the brains of the outfit. Zek was a wily man, and had been raised to be an assassin his whole life.  
  
" Because I know exactly where the nursery is and the nursery is not going to be full of Jedi knights you idiot!" Zek snapped angrily; how many times was he going to have to repeat this until that oaf actually understood. " You just concentrate on bashing in the heads of any silly nurse-maids that get in our way and let me handle all the difficult stuff!"  
  
" Yeah, but surely if." Ramer began, but Zek slapped him across the back of his head.  
  
" Don't even try and work it out Ramer, we don't want you to wear yourself! I'll be needing you later!" Zek hissed and so Ramer gave up and just led the way through the shaft until they reached the laundry bay. Inside there was only one worker, who Ramer dealt with, with a swift blow to the head before the poor woman could send for help.  
  
" Right, now if my instructions are correct, we should be able to take this shoot all the way to the floor we need," Zek told Ramer, indicating one of the many laundry shoots. He climbed in and looked up into the pitch- blackness. " Now I'm going to need to count carefully here, so don't follow me until I've worked it all out okay? Think you can manage that you imbecile?" Ramer nodded his jaw hanging open in concentration. Zek nodded to himself and then shot his harpoon gun (the guns used to lift people up heights) up into the endless darkness. He felt it connect and then went about lifting himself and counting carefully the seconds it took for him to rise. He'd calculated how high up the floor was, and how fast he travelled when he was attached to the gun. Soon he reached the right point and he slipped out of the shoot through the hatch.  
  
" Right come on Ramer," he called down the shoot and Ramer joined him moments later with much fumbling. " I can't trust you to do anything can I?" Zek snapped and he rolled his eyes before pulling out a pistol and leading the way through the corridors, carefully counting steps and doors. Eventually they reached the nursery and they forced the doors open and burst in shooting anything in sight.  
  
Inside her room Mayco opened her sleepy eyes sensing the danger. She sat up in her cot and felt fear rising in her. She knew that they had come for her, and she knew unless she did something about it, they would kill everyone before they got to her. So she used the railings on the cot to climb up onto the edge and fall to the ground. It hurt and she cried a bit, but then set off on her mission. She blew the door controls with the Force when she got so angry the door wouldn't open. Once out in the corridor she let the Force guide her to the main room. Once she reached it, the feeling of danger and the fear was pounding in on her head. So when she saw the two intruders she uncontrollably sent a huge wave of Force towards them knocking them out cold. Seeing the devastation on the room, the little girl dropped onto the floor and started bawling.  
  
In his room across the temple Anakin woke up sweating. He knew that something had happened, so he leapt out of bed and ran out of the apartment he shared with his master without even changing. He reached the nursery within moments and walked in to find the disaster area. Bodies of carers and infants lay everywhere, the injured were crying out and the two intruders were shaking with convulsions. Across the room Mayco sat crying her eyes out. Anakin rushed to her side instantly and picked her up and she started calming down.  
  
" What happened?" he asked the nearest injured carer and he helped the poor woman up. She explained everything to him. Anakin was in shock. " Mayco did that?" he gasped pointing to the two twitching men. The carer nodded scaredly. Anakin gulped and looked back into Mayco's eyes. She knew what he was thinking and she managed to convey a sense of duty to him. She had known what she was doing. It was a thought that worried Anakin.she was too powerful!  
  
Hours later the injured were being treated in the infirmary and the dead had been taken away. Mayco had fallen asleep and was being guarded by some Jedi Knights whilst Anakin and Obi-Wan talked with the council. The council were very impressed that such a young child could deal with two intruders.  
  
" We must accelerate her programme immediately," Mace explained. " Such a powerful child will be a great asset to us in the war!" Anakin was beginning to feel a little uneasy.  
  
" Something to say have you Skywalker?" Yoda asked. Anakin nodded and cleared his throat.  
  
" It's just, surely we should try and keep her safe if she's so powerful.I mean, we don't want to send her off to fight when she's young, just to get killed.she should be preserved right?" he said, trying to sound neutral, but failing.  
  
" Concerned for your child you are," Yoda stated. " Surprised are you by the strength she has." Anakin nodded. " Surprised we all are. Agree with you I do, preserved and looked after she must be." 


End file.
